On May 21 2025, India Participated in 24th Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Meeting of the Council of Ministers (COM), which was hosted virtually by the current chair of IORA, Sri Lanka under the theme ‘Sustainable Indian Ocean for Future Generation’.
- The Indian delegation was led by Periasamy Kumaran, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), at the 24th meeting of IORA COM.
- Currently, India is the Vice-Chair of IORA and part of Troika. India will take over the chairship of IORA from Sri Lanka, for 2025-2027.
Note: Troika is an institutional mechanism comprising the current chair, vice-chair and previous chair of the IORA.
About 24th IORA COM:
i.The 24th IORA COM was held under the chairmanship of Vijitha Herath, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism of Government of Sri Lanka.
ii.The meeting saw the participation of the Prime Minister (PM), Foreign Ministers and senior representatives from 23 IORA member states and 12 Dialogue Partners, along with the Secretary General of IORA.
- Also, this is for the 1st time that the European Union (EU) officially participated at the meeting as Dialogue Partner of IORA.
Note: EU was admitted as the 12th Dialogue Partner in IORA during the 23rd IORA COM held in October 2023 in Colombo (Sri Lanka).
iii.Discussions were centered on advancing cooperation in 6 priority areas of IORA: trade and investment, maritime safety and security, fisheries management, disaster risk management, academic, science and technology cooperation, blue economy and women’s empowerment.
iv.During the meeting, the ministers adopted the IORA Guidelines on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, as well as IORA’s climate agenda.
- Both these initiatives mark a significant step towards promoting environmental sustainability in the region.
v.The key highlight of the meeting was adoption of ‘Colombo Communique’, which reflects the progress achieved since the last COM held in 2023.
- The Communiqué reaffirmed the shared commitment to IORA’s goals and objectives, emphasizing the vision of a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indian Ocean region.
India at 24th IORA COM:
i.During the meeting, P. Kumaran reaffirmed India’s commitment to the well-being and progress of nations of the Indian Ocean, aligns with India’s Vision of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
ii.India also reiterated that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, whether carried out individually or by ‘state-sponsored cross-border terrorism’ poses serious threat to the region’s peace, security, and development, and must be unequivocally condemned.
About Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA):
i.It is an intergovernmental organisation formed in 1997 as Indian Ocean Region-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), in Mauritius.
ii.IORA COM is the highest decision-making body, comprises the Minister of Foreign Affairs of all member states.
iii.Currently, IORA comprises 23 member countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, the Comoros, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen.
- Also, it includes 12 dialogue partners namely: China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Turkiye, the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA) and the EU.
iv.In January 2025, Sanjiv Ranjan (India) assumed the role of Secretary-General of IORA for a period of 3 years. The secretariat of IORA is based in Ebene, Mauritius.
About Sri Lanka:
President-Â Anura Kumara Dissanayake
Capital- Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (legislative capital), Colombo (judicial and executive capital)
Currency- Sri Lankan Rupee (SLR)
